Commentary: UT-Tech matchup new game of the year
By now, we’re accustomed to the Big 12 Conference “Game of the Year” happening in October. We’re just not used to it involving Texas and a different team that wears red: Texas Tech.
Get used to the idea.
Saturday’s Texas Tech-Texas game has all the BCS and Big 12 South title implications that the Texas-Oklahoma games did from 2000 to 2004, if not more.
Both Texas and Texas Tech are 6-0. Both are ranked in the top 10. Texas is No. 2, while Tech broke into the top 10 Sunday (10th in AP, eighth in the coaches’) for the first time since the start of the 1977 season.
The Longhorns are unbeaten this far into the season for the first time since 1983. The Red Raiders were 6-0 as recently as 1998, but that team lost five of its last six. A better comparison would be to the 1976 Tech team that went 10-2, or the 1973 team that was 11-1.
This Tech team should be favored in every remaining game except the one Saturday in Austin, Texas. It’s not unrealistic to think neither Texas nor Tech will lose another game after Saturday.
And it’s not unrealistic to think the Red Raiders have a puncher’s chance, to use a boxing term, against Texas. Any team with Tech’s offensive firepower is capable of delivering a knockout blow, no matter the opponent.
Rankings
1. Texas 6-0 (3-0): UT was No. 1 until Trojans’ QB got sneaky.
2. Texas Tech, 6-0 (3-0): Top 10 spotlight shines the path to Austin.
3. Colorado, 4-2 (2-1): Buffs no match for Vince “Unitas” Young.
4. Nebraska, 5-1 (2-1): Huskers spoiled Baylor’s big party.
5. Texas A&M, 4-2 (2-1): When Reggie’s right, so is A&M’s offense.
6. Oklahoma, 3-3 (2-1): Struggling Sooners were just OK in Kansas City.
7. Baylor, 4-2 (1-2): Bowl push could go down to the wire.
8. Kansas State, 4-2 (1-2): Purple people made black and blue by Tech.
9. Missouri, 4-2 (2-1): Daniel keeps Tigers in the chase for the North.
10. Iowa State, 3-3 (0-3): Missed FG, OT, Missouri … all seems familiar.
11. Kansas, 3-3 (0-3): Just punt and hope the defense can score.
12. Oklahoma State, 3-3 (0-3): Basketball is just around the corner.
In the past, though, Tech often has beaten itself before getting to the big title match. Last year was a perfect example. The Red Raiders put up 70 on Nebraska, only to get embarrassed the following game by Texas, 51-21.
However, since that game, Texas Tech is 10-1. The only loss was in overtime at Texas A&M.
After getting run over by Texas in 2004, Tech beat a highly ranked Cal team in the Holiday Bowl. Previous Tech teams might have flopped on that big of a bowl stage.
This year, the Red Raiders found a way to win a game at Nebraska that past Tech teams would have found a way to lose.
The point is: This isn’t “Typical Tech” anymore. While “Can’t Win a Big Game” Texas has been busting stereotypes with victories in the Rose Bowl and at Ohio State, Tech has been doing the same.
The Holiday Bowl was Tech’s Rose Bowl. The victory at Nebraska, in front of 77,580 screaming Huskers, was Tech’s Ohio State.
“Tech got my attention,” said Texas coach Mack Brown, asked whether his team was the best in the nation. “They can throw it on anybody, so I think we’ll have a better feel after next week.”
Last year’s Tech team got duped into thinking it could just throw on the Longhorns, like the previous year when Texas won a 43-40 shootout. With the mystique of playing in Lubbock, there’s no way Tech could be stopped. Instead, Vince Young and Cedric Benson ran wild.
Losing to Texas taught the Red Raiders to take nothing for granted.
“Texas is a great ballclub. That’s why they’re No. 2 in the nation,” quarterback Cody Hodges said. “We can’t focus too much on them; we’ve got to worry about Texas Tech. Since that game last year, it’s been about Texas Tech and what can we do to get better.”
The Longhorns also have learned from previous meetings with the Red Raiders.
“We know about Tech; they’re a dangerous team,” defensive tackle Rod Wright said. “My freshman year we went up there and lost a game to them (42-38 in 2002). That’s always going to be in our head.”
Because of national-championship-race implications for both teams, this meeting will be different from any other UT-Tech game. The Longhorns and Red Raiders are different now, too.